Alice Cooper blasts 'safe' bands

Alice Cooper has bemoaned the way young bands are too "safe" and "introverted"

Alice Cooper thinks young bands are too "safe".

The 'School's Out' rocker wishes current artists were more adventurous with their look, sound, and lyrics and doesn't understand why they don't seem to make the most of their position and have fun.

He said: "My pet peeve is that young bands are so introverted.

"They want to look like everyone in the mall. They don't want to scare anyone. They sing about things that are safe.

"Where's the swagger? Where's the sex? Rock stars are meant to get out there and shake their butt. You should think: man, this is fun.

"I will never be this age again. I look good, I sound good, the girls are crazy about me. I tell young bands: don't tell me about politics or pollution.

"Tell me about your girlfriend. Rock'n'roll is an attitude. It is as close to a biker band as anything. For our generation, that's what it was all about."

The 70-year-old rocker "learned" from seeing a number of his musician friends die at a young age that it was important to separate himself from his stage persona and now he enjoys it more.

He told The Times newspaper: "The fact that Jim Morrison of the Doors even got to 27 was a miracle. I would get high with Jimi Hendrix, and I would look at Janis Joplin and Brian Jones, and see how the music business wanted them to be creative and do something nobody had seen before, but they all went out at 27. You learn from that.

"Jim Morrison is dead because he tried to be Jim Morrison all the time. I would be dead too if I tried to be Alice Cooper all the time.

"Once I got sober I realised that art is illusion. It is stuff we create. It is not reality. Now I can go shopping, I can play golf, I can go to the cinema if I want to, and it is more fun to play the character than be the character."